Public Comment

In the past twenty-two years I've had the recurring privilege of being a published writer. However, I've also experienced a psychotic condition for my entire adult life. I'm in my late fifties, and I've been medicated for psychosis and mood changes for the past forty years.

When I was in my early twenties, I was still well enough to work at skilled and unskilled employment and support myself with the wages. As I got older, I've needed to obtain Social Security and SSI to survive.

Psychosis interferes with life the most when it goes untreated. When in treatment, we may function well enough that a psychiatric condition doesn't define us. For others, they/we may need to maintain a lot of treatment. This includes medication and counseling in my case. Some mentally ill people need supervision in life activities.

Because I'm still competent and can function at professional activities (before taking up writing, I owned and operated a home electronics repair sole proprietorship), I sometimes receive a level of respect that would normally not be afforded disabled people, although this is unfair. Also unfair is where a lot of people don't respect me and scoff when they see evidence of accomplishments. People see what they expect to see. When they look at me, they aren't looking at reality, they are looking at their own projections. 

My life was very hard until I learned better management of my condition. Life continues to be hard, not because of being psychotic, but because of the lack of income accompanying a disability. I am also multiphobic and I have a lot of paranoid tendencies. This makes it harder to function in life. 

Most Americans have misconceptions about mentally ill people, and they do not try to understand us. They lack an incentive to understand us. Most people typically see us as dangerous, insane, nuisance people. And they may not educate themselves about us until a close family member or friend is stricken with schizophrenia or bipolar. 

People afflicted with psychotic or bipolar conditions face lives of psychotic symptoms, of unbearable medication side effects, of repeat hospitalizations, of poor or no career and/or relationship prospects--and many of us have a shortened life expectancy. 

Mentally ill people are often invalidated. Where I live, mental health treatment is more humane and gentler than it was twenty and thirty years ago. Yet in society at large, people have become decreasingly tolerant of behaviors that don't fit a narrowing norm. If we go to a public place, it seems that people are suspicious or overly cautious. And many people may presume we lack basic intelligence. 

Symptoms of schizophrenia include "delusions," as well as hallucinations, and changes in mood. These are observable, assessable mental phenomena and are caused by biologically based brain malfunctions. It is not something we can just "snap out of", as seen in ancient Hollywood movies of the nineteen forties, nor is it something we can cure with brown rice and ten mile runs every morning (a nineteen eighties type misconception). Specific treatments are necessary, including medications. 

We are a badly misunderstood group--most are good people with uncooperative brains. 

When we are seen as individuals with hearts and minds, it is obvious that we have massive obstacles to overcome in our lives. Some of us, who face death at an early age or who face total disability, might never get an adequate chance to be successful in life. 

In life, I haven't been afraid to get my hands dirty, to fall flat on my face and get back up, and to compete. I've been successful at some things, and a flop at others. I'm grateful that I'm still here, and still trying to create a better life, for myself and for anyone who cares to read my material. And that's all a person can do in life, just keep trying, because whether you're mentally ill or not, no one will do it for you. 

Jack Bragen is author of "Instructions for Dealing with Schizophrenia: A Self-Help Manual, and other works.